Wofford beats Appalachian St, earns 1st NCAA berth

CHARLOTTE, N.C.(AP) -- Mike Young remembers being an assistant
coach at Wofford in the school's first Division I season in
1994-95 and falling behind 26-0 to Clemson en route to a
49-point loss.

It was those early experiences that made reaching the NCAA
tournament for the first time so sweet.

Cameron Rundles scored 20 points and Wofford used stifling
defense to overcome a long second-half scoring drought and beat
Appalachian State 56-51 on Monday night for the Southern
Conference title.

The school perhaps best known in sports circles as being the
training camp home of the Carolina Panthers will soon have a
basketball banner to hang.

"We hung in there," said Young, his dress shirt drenched from a
celebratory water bath and the cut-down net on the table in
front of him. "And to do it in 15 years, Holy Toledo."

Wofford's 13th win in a row didn't come easy, though. The
Terriers (26-8) overcome going nearly 10 minutes without a point
to deny Appalachian State coach Buzz Peterson an NCAA bid in the
first year of his second stint at the school.

"They just really did a good job of taking out of anything we
tried to do offensively," Peterson said. "I told Mike and
(athletic director) Richard Johnson, go win for the league for
us. Go get the league some money. They're playing well enough
right now to do that."

It was a new experience for Wofford, which also got 13 rebounds
from Tim Johnson. Players danced and sang on the floor after the
buzzer, posed for pictures and celebrated the most wins in
school history a year after going 16-14.

Even Jerry Richardson, the Wofford alum and owner of the
Panthers who put training camp at his alma mater, was in the
arena to watch the Spartanburg, S.C., school of just 1,450
students reach a new milestone.

"I saw what he envisioned," Wofford's Noah Dahlman said of
Young. "For it to come true ... we took lumps. To come out this
year and put it all together, it's what you dream of."

Dahlman had 10 points and eight rebounds and was voted
tournament MVP in a season that's included victories over
Georgia and South Carolina, the same schools that beat up on
Wofford early in its transition from Division II.

"You hang in there and you believe in it," said Young, who
replaced Johnson as coach in 2002-03.

Wofford appeared in control when Junior Salters made a 3 on the
first possession of the second half to make it 36-18.

But the Terriers then missed 14 straight shots and three free
throws, not scoring again until Corey Godzinski's half-hook off
an offensive rebound with 9:50 left.

Trouble was, Appalachian State was shooting so poorly itself the
comeback was slow. The Mountaineers did get within 48-44 on
Abraham's four-point play with 2:24 left.

But Appalachian State missed three of four free throws and Sims'
fired up an airball on a 3-point attempt, allowing Wofford to
hit enough free throws to hold on as its fans yelled "Let's go
dancing!"

It was a bitter return to Time Warner Cable Arena for Peterson,
where he spent two seasons as director of player personnel for
the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats while working under former college
roommate Michael Jordan.

It was part of Peterson's whirlwind after leaving Appalachian
following its last NCAA trip in 2000. It included getting fired
at Tennessee, turning down a chance to return to Appalachian,
and then finally accepting.

Turning around a team that went 13-18 last season, the
Mountaineers entered the title game having won 10 of 11. But the
shots wouldn't fall.

Brand, who scored a career-high 37 points in Appalachian's
semifinal win, was 0 for 8 from the field. Donald Sims, who
scored 30 points in the quarterfinals, shot 2 for 15, quieting
the partisan Appalachian crowd.